This sweet potato and coconut milk stew is a glowing shade of orange with vibrant pops of green from kale and cilantro. We use lots of chili and ginger in this vibrant vegan stew, along with a bunch of other spices. The flavor profile, spice combination, and recipe itself is inspired by Indian cuisine as well as Thai coconut milk-based curries. You get sweetness, spice, earthy vibes, creaminess, texture from the lentils, and a squeeze of lime rounds everything out. Fans of this will love my butternut squash stew with chickpeas & kale, which was inspired by this recipe!
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There is plenty of seasonal, plant-based soup and stew inspiration in my cookbook. You’ll also find vegan dinners, hearty salads and sides, and wholesome desserts.
If you count common spices as one component, this sweet potato coconut milk stew hits at around 10 ingredients. It’s very simple to make, definitely hearty, and accommodating for different dietary sensitivities. If a stew could have it all, this would be IT.
For my taste, it has just the right amount of richness from coconut milk–a real flavor bomb with a deep wholesome glow. Just the kinda thing I’m after lately. I love making it with homemade vegetable stock, but it’s not 100% necessary.
For a quicker, still satiating and flavorful lentil soup with greens, I recommend checking out my Lemony Red Lentil Soup. Just like this recipe, it’s loaded with spices and finished with zingy citrus. Another dinner recipe with similar flavors is my Harissa Coconut Lentils with Kale & Roasted Sweet Potatoes.
This remains one of the most popular recipes on the site and as you’ll see from the hundreds of reviews, it does well with a bit of improvisation! Using whatever greens you have on hand and any odds and ends works well because it has such robust flavor base.
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Ginger Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Stew with Lentils and Kale
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- ½-1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ lbs (690 grams) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
- ½ cup dry brown lentils, picked over
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 13.5 oz (400 ml) can full fat coconut milk
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (about 4 packed cups of chopped kale)
- To garnish: chopped cilantro, extra chili flakes, lime wedges, nigella seeds
Notes
- Coconut milk is naturally sweet and so are sweet potatoes. I like to go in with a lot of dried chili to balance things out, but of course add as much as you feel comfortable with.
- Chard or mustard greens would also be delicious in place of the kale.
Instructions
- Heat a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the coconut oil to the pot and let it melt. Add the onions to the pot and stir. Saute the onions, stirring occasionally, until translucent and quite soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chili flakes, coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Saute spices until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ginger and garlic to the pot and cook for another minute. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add the sweet potatoes to the pot and stir to coat in the spices. Add the lentils to the pot and stir once more. Season everything liberally with salt and pepper. Add the vegetable stock and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Place the lid on top of the pot and bring to a boil.
- Once the stew is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer. Keep simmering until the sweet potatoes are almost falling apart and the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. The liquid should also be reduced by almost a third.
- Add the coconut milk and kale to the pot and stir. Place the lid on top and continue to simmer the stew until the kale is wilted and bright green, about 3-4 minutes. Season the sweet potato and coconut milk stew again with salt and pepper. Bring the stew back up to a strong simmer and check for seasoning. Adjust with more salt, pepper, chili etc. if necessary.
- Serve the sweet potato and coconut milk stew hot with chopped cilantro, extra chili flakes, lime wedges to squeeze on top, and Nigella seeds (if using).
I have about half a can of coconut milk leftover from another recipe. Would that be enough?
Hi Laura,
It should be fine! If the stew seems too thick, Just add a splash of vegetable stock or water.
-L
Great base and so versatile! We eat seafood, so I added shrimp with the chard and was out of lentils so used some chick peas…delicious! Spices are perfect.
Hi! Is it possible to use already cooked lentils?
Hi Suzette! Pre-cooked lentils are great here. You can still add them at the same point that I do in the recipe or later towards the end of the simmering time if you want. This is a really flexible recipe ;)
-L
If you use canned lentils, do you did less liquid?
If you’re using canned lentils, I would hold the vegetable stock back to 2 cups and add more at the end if you find it necessary.
I used canned garbanzo beans instead of lentils, and frozen spinach instead of kale. Also used frozen ginger cubes from Trader Joes instead of fresh ginger. And no coconut oil because we had none. I didn’t peel the sweet potatoes. This was a huge hit and my husband had 3 servings, though I expected him to hate the soup. This is a keeper. Also, my soup was not as pretty as the picture on the page – mine looked kind of gross. But it tasted good.
This was so delicious! 5 stars!!
This was absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes – thanks!
If I sub water for veggie stock, which seasonings do you suggest I increase or add?
Hi Jen!
You can increase the spices if you like, but the stew should be fine as-is!
-L
We cooked this today. We didn’t have lentils sonwe used garbanzo beans and it was delicious. Thank you!
Please ignore my last comment – I misread the first instruction – it’s coconut oil.
I wish I had read the recipe through before I started cooking. Coconut milk in first, then onions, cook till translucent, makes no sense. Then later on put coconut milk in – twice???
Omg, I made this tonight and it is perhaps the best stew I’ve ever made. Fortunately, I already had everything on the list except for ginger. But that’s okay because I don’t like ginger and it tasted amazing without it. I added a bit more chillies than on the recipe and the heat made it so delicious. Thanks so much for such a delicious treat during these difficult days during isolation. x
So good! I doubled the recipe and so glad I did, yum! I switched up the produce to use what I had on hand/what’s cheap given the current pandemic, and used chickpeas instead of lentils. Love the flavor profile, will definitely make this again. It is such a cozy dish :D
Help I accidentally bought lite coconut milk. I have a can of unsweetened too. What should I use. Unsweetened or lite?
Hi Sue! Lite coconut milk is fine. It will just be a touch less creamy! ;)
-L
This was absolutely delicious! It was the perfect balance of spicy and sweet, the nigella seeds really topped it off, I was so glad I chose to add them. Thank you for sharing this dish with us!
Looks amazing and will cook asap. Can you tell me what “picked over” means in regard to the brown lentils ?
Thanks in anticipation .. yumm !
Hi Jenn! Sometimes you’ll find little tiny stones in bags of lentils. So I always just do a quick check after I measure them out.
-L
Spectacular. A winner / keeper for sure
So delicious. Thank you so much for sharing :)
This is delicious! And it’s economical, healthy, pretty, and easy to make. Thank you!
I am eating this delicious soup as I type this! OMG! It’s SO incredibly wonderful!! I love it. Thank you for bringing this to my taste buds!!! Perfect comfort food. Instead of simmering it for 30 minutes I sautéed everything in the Instant Pot then did high pressure for 10 minutes and drank a glass of wine! When I opened it back up I added the kale and coconut milk. I also added 1/2 tsp of garam masala and 1/4 tsp of cayenne at the end (I wanted it even spicier). I did all the garnishes and I would NOT skip the nigella seeds if you can avoid it. Thank you again so much for your yummy food and blog! I wanted to also let you know that the pictures are taking a LONG time to load. Best, Karen
This recipe is delicious!! I made it exactly as-is, and it was the perfect, comforting meal after a long week of pandemic news. Super easy to pull together, too! Love, love, love this! And will definitely make again. Thank you so much for this delight.
This was absolutely delicious. I was able to use everything as the recipe calls for it. Its hearty, spicy and sweet and oh so good for your body and soul. will be a regular part of my soup/stew repertoire. Thank you!
This was beyond delicious!! I could have inhaled the whole pot!!!
Used ground ginger, chicken broth and green lentils. Turned out just absolutely excellent!
How would this work with white potatoes instead of sweet potatoes? Just wondering because it sounds DELICIOUS but I haven’t got any sweet potatoes on hand. :(
Thanks!
Hi Didi!
Regular potatoes would be fine and would actually make the stew much thicker and heartier. Let me know how it turns out! :)
-L
I love this curry, it is so simple and so so delicious. I’ve made it with many different combinations of vegetables, it’s very versatile. My kids aren’t crazy about onions though so I blend the onions, garlic, ginger, broth and spices right in the pot with my immersion blender before adding all the veggies… works great and they love this curry too! Thank you Laura!
Hello, I am just about to cook this as per your directions. Just curious for next time though: would this work in a slow cooker? Thanks in advance
Hi Melissa,
Please check out my response to Lynn who asked the same question!
-L
This looks amazing!! Def going to make it!! Can I ask what is the bread you have served it with?
Hi Kate,
I just rolled and fried little discs of pizza dough that I had on hand to serve with this. Nothing fancy ;)
-L
I finally made this and oh my god. so simple but the flavors are so complex and comforting and perfect for my suddenly-work-from-home lunches. Thank you so much!
Hi,
I don’t understand how you can make the stew boil before adding the coconot milk, there is no liquid in the pot.
Maybe I am missing to english but I really don’t understand this one.
Can you help me ?
Hi Emeline,
In the step before, you add vegetable stock to the pot. This is the liquid that is coming to a boil before the coconut milk is added.
-L
I didn’t have veggie stock so I added chicken stock and I also added an handful of currents and some roasted cashews at the end of simmer – so good. The spice combination is just so flavourful; we loved the outcome.
Do you think this stew would freeze well? I’d love to freeze it and send it to a friend.
Hi Amie,
This stew would freeze great. The only thing that concerns me is that the kale and herbs might get overcooked upon reheating, but if that doesn’t bother you, I’d say go ahead!
-L
That was incredible. Served with naan bread over rice with a side of Mango chutney. 5 stars.
We really enjoyed this stew, it was very good and easy.
Hi red lentils instead of brown lentils? And butternut squash instead of sweet potatoe? Thoughts c
Hey Bina!
You could use red lentils. They will break down a lot more and add to the creaminess of the stew, which is great. Butternut squash is a perfect sub for sweet potato. Hope you enjoy!
-L
I’ve just finished eating this gorgeous stew. It was very tasty and the only mod was more chili, I used gochugaru and little thai chili and less liquid by two cups. Will make again soon with more lentils next.
So delicious! I added a can of chick peas. Perfect combination of ingredients.
fabulous ! Second Time I made it in a week.
Made this today with white yams, so it definitely didn’t look like your picture, more brown/grayish, but the taste was outstanding! It’s similar to another recipe I have for butternut squash, but the lentils add more. Don’t forget to squeeze some lime over top – it makes all the difference!
Prepared the Ginger Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Stew with Lentils for a party last night. Everyone loved it and asked for the recipe. I sent it out immediately. Thank you. This is definitely going to be a “go to recipe” for me!
YUM! Made this today and loved it! 1/2 tsp chilli flakes was enough for us though. Thank you for a tasty, healthy recipe.
I’m not usually one to comment, but this stew blew my mind right outta my head. It was super yummo. Make it. Make it now!
What to use to replace the diaspora chili flakes? They are currently sold out, Regular chili powder? Ancho chili powder? thank you. Can’t wait to make this :)
Hi Carey! I would use regular chili flakes as a substitute.
-L
Made this last night and it was one of the best soups I’ve made! Will definitely be saving this recipe. Thanks!
Can this be made in a slow cooker? any thoughts on that?
Hi Lynn, I have not made this recipe in a slow cooker but from a quick look on Google, I think you could place all of the ingredients in the insert except for the kale and cook it on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Them just stir in and wilt the kale at the end.
-L
Thanks, Laura. I actually made it the way you instructed, tonight. It’s fabulous!! Such a flavor party!!
OK, this is delicious. I made it 3 days ago and think I’m going to make it again this week. I didn’t make my own stock (I used vegetable bouillon cubes), and I used green lentils instead of black and spinach instead of kale. I also omitted the Nigella seeds and cilantro. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out DIVINE. So hearty and flavourful and satisfying. Highly recommend.
I made this recipe today exactly as given. It was excellent. I have never heard of your blog before but I will certainly be using it a great deal from now on. Thank you!
We made this soup last night! So delicious, thank you for posting!
Absolutely delicious, thank you.
I like to use a lot of chopped fresh red chili when cooking.
I suppose this could substitute for the chili flakes ?
How much, do you think ?
Honestly as much as you can handle! There’s a lot of mellow and sweet flavours happening with this stew, so it can take quite a bit. It’s also quite dependent on what type of chili you’re using!
-L
I am in Australia. We have the end-of-summer gloom. This soup is just what my soul and body needed… and OMG it tastes heavenly. Cooked it tonight, just perfect. Thank you for this recipe.
This was phenomenal! So perfect on a drizzly day!!